Council calls on Federal Government to Catch Up

Mayor of Hume City Councillor Carly Moore joined the national call for better access to roads, transport, local jobs and community facilities in Australia’s fast-growing outer suburbs at the launch of the Catch Up with the Outer Suburbs campaign in Canberra this week.

Cr Moore met with Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population Alan Tudge and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development Anthony Albanese, along with Member for McEwen, Rob Mitchell MP, Member for Calwell, Maria Vamvakinou MP and other Members of Parliament from fast-growing areas around the country.

The National Growth Areas Alliance, a group of 21 councils from capital city growth areas across Australia, came together at Parliament House ahead of the next Federal Election to call on our politicians to Catch Up with population growth in the outer suburbs.

Cr Moore said people move to new areas such as Craigieburn, Greenvale, Mickleham and Sunbury to create better lives for themselves and their family.

“When you consider the growth taking place in suburbs like Greenvale and Craigieburn, where the population is predicted to increase by 50 per cent by 2036, the stretch on essential services and the infrastructure we need is obvious.

“We need the Federal Government to help us to keep up with this unprecedented level of growth and our residents have the right to fair levels of infrastructure investment that enable new and established communities to thrive,” Cr Moore said.

“We are doing all we can to help our residents live in safe, healthy and connected communities; and we actively advocate because we cannot achieve success on our own - this is a national issue that needs to be urgently addressed."

‘Catch Up with the outer suburbs’ has three common-sense recommendations for the Federal Government: 1) get five million people to work, study or home on time, 2) create jobs where the workforce lives and 3) build the facilities to build communities.

The local road and public transport improvements urgently needed to bring our transport up to pace with our growing population are the:

Duplication of Mickleham Road

Duplication of Somerton Road

Construction of the Bulla Bypass

Redevelopment of Broadmeadows Railway Station

Upgrade Hume Freeway

The facilities and services we need to help our growing communities thrive, include:

Committing to fund five hours of Universal Access to preschool beyond 2019

Support services for asylum seekers

Help us advocate for you by following Hume Advocates and join the email campaign at catchup.org.au to tell our politicians about the priority infrastructure needs in our community.